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- vention is to produce a chair which is especomfortable seat.

.rate dressing-compartment.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES lll. OSGOOD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-SEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,527, dated November12, 1895.

` Application filed December 12, 18 94. SerialNo. 531,588. (No model.)

To all whom/tzt may concern:

'Be it known'that I, JAMES M. OSGOOD, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and ImprovedOar-Seatof which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in car seats or chairs; and theobject of my incially adapted for use in parlor and sleeping cars, butwhich may be easily adapted to ordinary day-coaches, and to produce achair which has reversible and reclining backs adapted to servealternately as backs and leg-rests, which has the aforesaid backsdivided so that each chairmay be formed into a tte-a-tte with a halfback facing in one direction and the other back in the oppositedirec-tion, which has the opposite backs connected by gearing, so thatwhen one back is turned up the other will be turned down and both may besimultaneously moved to a safety position, which has the backs and restsarranged so as to be readily adjustable and convertible into a couch orberth, and which is arranged so that in a car the alternate chairs maybe raised to form upper berths and the intermediate chairs movedlaterally, thus forming practically a series of staterooms, in the lowerof which is a seat, and which practically gives to each berth a sepa- Afurther object of my invention is to produce a chair which is easilyshifted from one position to another and which affords a very To theseends my invention consists of certain features of construction andcombinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken. sectional elevation of a car provided with aseries of my improved seats arranged to be converted into couches andwith the chairs in position for day use. Fig. 2 is a similar View, butwith the chairs converted into couches and arranged for night use. Fig.3 is a broken sectional elevation of two adjacent chairs, one beingvertically and the other laterally movable, the chairs being shown inposition for day use and the view illustrating the gear connectionbetween the opposite backs. Fig. 4 is a similar section showing thechairs arranged for night use. Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation ofthe laterally-movable seat with the seat-backs extended to form a bunk.Fig. 6 is a broken plan View, partly in section, of thevertically-movable chair. Fig. 7isabroken vertical section on the line 77 of Fig. 3. Fig. S is a cross-section of one of the verticallymovablechairs arranged to form a tte-a-tte. Fig. Sis a cross-section of thelaterally-movable chair, which is adapted to be placed between twovertically-movable ones. Fig. 10

is a rear elevation of the laterally-movable chair. Fig. 11 is a detailcross-section showing the manner in which the extension backs orhead-rests are held and fastened. Fig. 12 is a detail sectional viewshowing the locking` device in position to fasten a head-rest. Fig. 13is a similar View, but with the head-rest unfastened. Fig. 14 is across-section of a modified form of the chair in position for day use.Fig. 15 is a sectional elevation of the chair shown in Fig. 14 with thechair raised and converted into a couch. Fig. 16 is an enlarged detailsectional View showing the arrangement of the seats when converted intobunks or berths. Fig. 17 is an enlarged detail view on the line 17 17 ofFig. 19, showing the means'for holding a seat-back in position, the viewshowing the seat-back raised. Fig. 18 is a similar view with theseat-back in a nearly horizontal position, and Fig. 19 is a detailcross-sectional view of the construction shown in Figs. 17 and 18.

The parlor sleeping-car 12 is tted with alternating seats 10 and 11,`the former of which is vertically movable to enable it to be convertedinto an upper berth or couch, as hereinafter described. Each seat ismounted on a box 13, which is provided with a lid 14, and 'this boX maybe utilized for holding the bedclothing. The seat is providedwith abottom or seat portion 15` which is upholstered, as shown at 16, andwhich lies on the box 13, and the bottom or seat portion 15 forms thelid or IOO cover of the box 13 of the seat 1l. The bottom 15 is, on thevertically-movable chairs 1.0, carried by end posts 17, which arelongitudinally slotted, as shown at 1S, so as to straddle the gears 19,each of which engages a rack on one side of the post 17, and thus byturning the gear 19 the post may be moved up or down, sliding as itmoves in a guidingslideway 17, and when the post is moved to its lowestposition it projects through the eariloor and into a box 171. The shaft21 of each gear 19 is squared at its outer end, as shown in Fig. 7, sothat a wrench may be conveniently applied to the shaft to turn it andthe gear. Fach gear or cog wheel 1f) is provided with a ratchet-wheel23, (see Figs. (i and 8,) which is engaged by a pawl 21, and thisprevents the cog-wheel from turning back and permitting the upper couchto settle after it is raised.

The chair 11 is laterally movable,and to this end the box 13 has attheends antifrictiontrucks 25,which may be flan ged and which run on metaltracks 26, these being longitudinally slotted, as shown at '27,toreceive the ends of the boxes 13 of the seats 11, which ends areprolonged. so as to extend down through the slot, as shown clearly inFig. 10, and the ends have bottom flanges 27, which overlap the sides ofthe slots and prevent the displacement of the box ends, and the boxes 13and seats 1l are thus accurately guided and securely held. The seat 11is held in a desired position by means of retaining-dogs 2S and 29,which are pivoted on the outer end of the box 13, as shown at 30 inFigs. 2, al., and 5, and these dogs are provided with lugs 31 to enternotches 32 in the tracks 2G, thus fastening the chair. One of the dogsis provided with a thu mb-pieee or handle which on being depressed.releases the dog, and this thumb-piece overlaps the shank 3l of the dog28, while both shank and thumb-piece are normally pressed upward by aspring 35 beneath the shank. This arrangement enables the chair to bepushed to one side for day use, and for use after the bed is made thechair or seat may be pushed back to the position shown in Fig. at.

The bottom 15 of each chair has hinged to opposite edges reversiblebacks 36, which are preferably double, as shown in Fig. 7, to enable thechair to be converted into a tte-atte, as presently described, thesebacks being hung on pintles or shafts 37, which project into easings 38at the ends of the chair. On these easings are the upholstered arms 3Sof the chair. The backs 3G are connected with gear-wheels 39, containedin the said easings 3S, and the opposite gear-wheels 3f) in each casin gare connected by an intermediate gear-wheel 10, and the backs 3G arearranged so that when one is raised to position for use the other willbe depressed to serve as a leg-rest, and being connected by gears theyof course move in unison,and hence when one is moved the other has acorresponding but opposite movement, and the chair may thus be easilyreversed, or the backs may be straightened out, as shown by dotted linesin. Fig. $3, to form the bed portion of a berth. 0n the outer ends ofthe shafts of the gearwheels 3f! and -LO are thumb-screws 39, which whentightened up bind against the gearwheels and force the gear-wheelsagainst the sides of the ease 3S, and in this way the thumbscrews act asbrakes by which the movement of the backs 3U maybe controlled, theloosening of the thulnb-serews permitting the backs to turn easily andthe tightening of the thumb-screws holding the backs in place. On theside edges of the backs 3U are easings 4G, which move in unison with thebacks and which are to be more speeiiically described hereinafter, andthese easings when turned in one direction abut with stops 3U on thegear-wheels 3), so that when moved in the direction of the stops thegear-wheels are turned by the easings and back, and the easings are heldagainst the stops by dogs or pawls 39C, which are pivoted in recesses239 in. the gearwheels, (see Figs. 17 and 19,) and these pawls areadapted to pass through recesses 31) in the easings lo', (see Fig. 19;)but normally the dogs or pawls engage the easings and hold them againstornearly against the abutments or stops 39", (see Fig. 17,) so that whenthe casin and seat-backs are turned against the dogs 39C the gear-wheels3f) and l() will be also turned. lvlien, however, it is desired to dropone of the seat-backs, as shown in Fig. 1G, without disturbing theopposite seat-back, the seat-back and casing 46 to be lowered are iirstraised slightly, so as to disengage the casing from the pawl 39, (seeFig. 18,) and the pawl 39C is pressed, so as to turn it on its pivottoward the casing and enable it to enter the recess 39e, (which will bereadily understood by reference to Figs. 17 and 1S, in which the outercud of the recess 39 is indicated in dotted lines,) after which theeasing lo and the seat-back 3G, connected therewith, may be freelydropped without affecting the rest of the apparatus, as the pawl 39 willslip through the recess 3U@ of the casing 16 without being engagedthereby, and consequeutl y the gear-wheel will not be turned.

To the outeredges of the backs 3G arehinged the foot-rests 41, which onthe under or outer sides are upholstered, as shown at 42, and thus whenthe foot-rests are folded against the backs 3G they form a back-cushionfor the chair, and when they are folded outward and downward theupholstering comes on the under side, out of contact with the feet,while the inner portion. of the foot-rest is adapted to support the feetand extends at practically right angles to the back 3G. Each back 36 isalso provided with an extension head-rest lil, which on the outside isupholstered, as shown at it, and this head-rest may be folded overagainst the rear side of the back 3U, as shown at the right hand in Fig.S, or maybe elevated to form an extension of the main chair-back, asshown at the left hand in the same figure, and

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this latter position is the position which the head-rest assumes whenthe apparatus is converted into ay couch, as shown in Fig. 4.

The head-rest 43 may be made independent of the foot-rest 41, as shownon the chair 1l, or it may be formed integral with the said foot-rest,as shown on the chair 10, and when thus formed the head-rest will alwaysbe extended to form a continuation of the back when the foot-rest isfolded against the back, as shown in the upper part of Fig. 9, and whenthe foot-rest is turned down, as shown in the lower portion of the sameligure, the head-rest will extend inward at an angle to the back 36.

Thev head-rests 43 are made of the same width as the backs 36, and eachrest has its hinge-leaf projected at one end and provided with acog-wheel 45, having opposite teeth 45, this cog being held in a casing46, which extends parallel with the back 36 and is connected with thehinge of the said back, and in this casing is a catch 47 to engage theteeth 45, (see Figs. 12 and 13,) the catch being formed on the end of aslide-rod 48, which is pressed by a spring 49, so as to pass intoengagement with one of the teeth, and the rod has a push-button 50extending outward through a slide-slot 51 in the casing 46, (see Fig.5,) and thus when the head-rest is to be turned the push-button andslide-rod may be pushed back to disengage a tooth 45a, and the head-restmay then be freely turned.

The head-rests 43 are hung on pintles 52, which project outward throughthe casings 46 and which are returned by springs 53, one of the pintlesextending through the hingeleaf of one 4of the head-rests and into thehinge-leaf of the opposite rest, and so the pintle serves to hold thetwo head-rests and the two backs 36 together, as in Fig. 11 but whenthey are to be changed to form a tte-a-tte the pintle 52 is pulledoutward, so that one of the backs and its head-rest may be reversed andthe other left i'n its original position. If desired, the chair may bemade as shown in Figs. 14 and 15 and may be made either verticallymovable or stationary. As illustrated, however, the modified form ofchair has the lifting mechanism already described and has the backs 36made single and upholstered on the inner side, as shown at 54. Each ofthese backs is provided with an eX- tension 55, which moves in aslideway 56 on the back and has a front piece 57 to enable it to bepulled out, so as to form a foot-rest when the chair is converted into acouch and the backs are placed horizontally,as in Fig. 15.

To support the chair in its raised position, the bottom 15 is providedWith a drop-plate 58, hinged to the under side of the bottom andrabbeted at its lower edge, as shown at 59, so as to iit a shoulder 60on one side of the box 13, and thus when the drop-plate is fitted uponthe box side, as the drawings show, the seat or bunk is supportedrigidly and cannot drop. Vhen the chairs are arranged, as in Figs. 1 and2, for a parlor-car, a curtain 61 is hung above the chairs, so as to bedropped between every two of them, and these curtains are adapted to bepulled down, so as to divide the car into a series of berths orcompartments, the curtains being adapted to alternately engage hooks 63on theoor and buttons 64 on the ends of the upper bunks. (See Fig. 16.)These curtains are hung in the ordinary fixtures and are adapted toenter casings 65, which are secured to hangers 66 on the car-top.

The berths may be provided with the ordinary curtains, such as are usedin the ordinary sleeping-car, and when the berths are made up for thenight they are arranged as shown in Fig. 16, the seat 11 being moved sothat the lower and upper berths will partially overlap. The seat-bottom15 of the upper berth is raised by turning the gear-wheel 19 in themanner already described. The seatbacks 36 of the said berth are turnedto a horizontal position, and the seat-backs ofthe lower berth or seat11 are also turned to a horizontal position with the head-restsextended. The bedclothing is arranged upon the berths in the usual wayand is then turned back over the seat-bottom 15 of the upper berth, andthe dog or pawl 39C, beneath the seat-back 36, next the foot of theberth, is pressed so as to drop the seat-back to the position shown inFig. 16, and this,with the rest 43, extended as shown in the sameligure, forms a seat for the occupantof the berth and provides spacefora dressing-room. When the occupant wishes to retire, the seatback 36is raised to a horizontal position, the dog 39c automatically engagingthe casing 46, so as to hold the casing and seat-back in a horizontalposition, and the rest 43 is also dropped to a horizontal position,after which the bedclothing is straightened out in the customary manner.The lower berth is made up and used in a very similar way, except thatthe back 36 next the head of the berth is dropped to make space for adressing-room, and when the berth is to be occupied the back is raisedto a position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 16 and the bedclothingstraightened out.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent* 1. A car chair mounted on rollers and provided withdownwardly extending projections adapted to engage slots of tracks onwhich the rollers are adapted to run7 substantially as described.

2. A car chair comprising a bottom portion, backs hinged to oppositeedges thereof, a motion-transmitting device whereby both backs arecaused to move simultaneously but in opposite direction, andra movableconnecting device whereby one of the backs may be coupled to, oruncoupled from, the said motion-trans- IOO IIO

mitting device, to permit of independent movement of the said back,substantially as described.

3. A car chair, comprising` a bottom portion, two reversible backslocated one at each end of the bottom portion to form a back for oneportion thereof and mounted to swing` in different planes adjacent toeach other so that the two backs can be swung side by side so as topractically form a single back, and a movable part secured to one of thebacks and constructed to en gage the other back to compel it to move inunison with the first named back, said movable part when withdrawn fromengagement with one of the backs permitting the said back to be reversedindependently of the other back, whereby the chair may be converted intoa @tea-tte, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the sliding chair, of the spring-pressedretaining dogs thereon and constructed to engage a relatively stationarypart of the car to hold the chair against sliding,` movement, and meansfor simultaneously operating the dogs, substantially as described.

5. A chair, provided with a bottom portion, two reversible backs, and arod slidably mounted on one of the backs and constructed to engage theother back, substantially as described.

(3. A car provided with chairs convertible into berths, alternate chairsbeing vertically movable to form upper berths, and the other chairsbeing slidable toward and from the sai d vertically movable chairs, thelower berths when in position for use, extending partly nnder the upperberths, and projecting beyond the same at one end, so as to afford afree space above the said end of the lower berth to the top of the car,substantially as described.

JAMES M. OSGOOD.

Vitnesses:

Il. W. GILE, S. P. MEERYECK.

